British Gas customers are unlikely to welcome news that the company’s owner, Centrica, reported a profit increase of £1.51bn for last year, despite having just hiked up prices by 22%.
Price comparison site, Moneysupermarket.com, said despite the rise in profits, British Gas customers were facing a £2.7bn increase in their energy bills – a total […]

Savers in London have the highest average savings balances in the UK but those in Ceredigion, Wales save the most in relation to local earnings.
The average London saver has managed to put £16,972 away, while those in Ceredigion have an average balance of £9,805. This is the equivalent of 65% of local annual average […]

Around one in five bank and former building society branches have closed since 1995, compared to only one in 20 branches for the top ten mutual building societies.
The research, published by the Building Societies Association (BSA), showed ‘multicultural metropolitan areas’ were most likely to see branch closures. It said, despite many banks claiming to […]

Approximately 500,000 Child Trust Fund (CTF) vouchers, worth £125m, have still not been invested a year after the Government initiated the scheme.
Many parents claim to be ill-informed of their options – 38% admit they have not yet invested the voucher because they are unsure of where to put it. However, over half of parents […]

The big four banks are profiting from consumer inertia, meaning consumers should shop around rather than keeping all their financial eggs in one basket.
Recent research by Moneysupermarket.com has shown consumers could save up to £1,134 by spreading their finances around the best deals in the market. As Barclays Bank has recently announced profits of […]

Investors in trackers have been warned against over-exposing themselves to specific stock risk in oil, pharmaceuticals, banks and commodities.
The top 10 holdings in the FTSE 100 account for nearly half (49.3%) of the index’s weighting and are predominantly made up of such stocks, for example, Shell, HSBC and GlaxoSmithKline. The performance of this sector […]

Professional footballers, trapeze artists and badminton players are among those who could face high tax charges on retirement, due to their ability to retire early.
A range of categories of professionals are subject to special retirement ages, allowing them to retire as young 30 years old, in some cases, rather than the statutory minimum of […]

Professional footballers, trapeze artists and badminton players are among those who could face high tax charges on retirement, due to their ability to retire early.
A range of categories of professionals are subject to special retirement ages, allowing them to retire as young 30 years old, in some cases, rather than the statutory minimum of […]